Player Rater;

Julio Cesar – Wasn’t given much to do in the whole match except deal with a header and a cross, plus that messi save at the end. He looked better than the previous matches, but this was the important one. =6

Lucio – Came back and told his twin to get lost, moments of good tactical awareness, but still has that classical knack of doing the Brazilian thing of switch off and presenting chances, by far our best defender, co-ordinated like a captain, still not vintage though, but blame Dunga he’s the coach. = 6

Juan – Along with Lucio he was better, was very strong in the tackle and ventured up field due to the lack of creativity, calm and collective on the ball. He and Lucio didn’t have much coming at them and terms of running except Messi, doubled up well on him, maybe if Riquleme played like himself we would’ve seen how good they were on the night. I like Juan and I feel any coach in the world work well with these two at the back, o apart from the fucker we’ve got. = 6

Maicon – Don’t remember him much at all during that match, same as before, probably Dunga decided to play with no width in the final third of the pitch so he was playing deeper to contain further. = 3

Gilberto – Defend as a left-back should, nothing more said, did his usual thing of standard play not providing anything much back or forward. = 3.5
Gilberto Silva- How many times can you give away the ball, win it lose it, what good is that to a team? Messi ran rings round him and he constantly had to act as a 5th defender to keep up with the game. Past it. =2

Mineiro – Was he there, o ye giving the ball away. = 1

Anderson – believed he could force the game and do something with the ball. Still felt he looked a little lost out there, take him to the youth team and build a position there for him to settle in. probably best of the pack, an tried to distribute, but seriously he’s a prospect we need more wasn’t good enough, shame bout the injury though it didn’t look that serious. = 4

Julio Baptista – was given the free role (in Dunga’s book means half Defensive Midfielder), played better than any player in yellow attacking, didn’t do much with the ball because the players with him played poor or plain sucked (Gilberto Silva, Miniero) gave Argentina a go but wasn’t able to break them down. Should’ve buried the chance no matter what, so he gets = 5.5

Robinho – Nothing to feed of, drop deep and disjointed from midfield with no width, had his moments but not very much in the game, and a little uninspiring. He’s a player who works best with the ball at his feet not when he goes looking. = 3.5

Adriano – tried to get into the game and show himself to that crowd, had free kick which he blazed, but I reckon its too early for a recall, give him time he is super talented and if he captures his old self bang were in business. He can’t take the game on like he used to yet maybe in a few months, but when the ball comes to him he can use it well and bring others into the game. Shitty tactics and poor quality crosses mixed in with long balls which do nothing and don’t allow a player into match. = 4.0

Subs

Diego – Which Diego came to the game because I don’t think one did, another bad game, wtf? Either this guy has bad form, can’t recreate the form shown or, plain doest work with the tactics of Dopey. I think the tactics and I’ll tell you why, the way Brazil set up makes two attacking midfielders forage in the middle of the pitch. Diego and Baptista are similar players in the way in which to pick their spaces, at times on the pitch each were running into each other, it was far too congested. They play threw the same area and causes for the midfield to be disoriented and, lack of organisation; (Dunga really doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing). I am prepared to be wrong about Diego, he didn’t look happy playing, under a different more fluid coach I think we can judge him. This takes nothing away from his poor display in even getting into the match or doing anything constructive, but ifeel if you get him right he can be a very good player. = 2

Luis Fabiano – Had to hear the screams of Donkey uttered when Adriano went off, He did though try to assert himself quickly and his cross via defensive mistake allowed Julio Baptsita to try a volley. I like Luis Fabiano, and if Dunga can’t get one of Europe’s top scorers getting chances then Dunga can’t get nobody a chance which has been proved. Can’t really give a rating because nothing else was given to him. = -

Daniel Alves – the funniest thing ever, a right back for an attacking midfielder. Ok Diego wasn’t playing well but were did Daniel Alves play on the pitch, just in front of the on pitch Right back Maicon, what so you can have super right back attack. I am not sure but I am may be tempted to hand in my resume to be the next Brazil Coach, I reckon I have more tactical sense then Dunga. = -

Argentina came for a point and that’s what they got, they hate playing beautiful football and getting beatien by Brazil. On the contrary I respect Argentina fully and love that they believe more in the way to win then the ugly money side of winning at all costs. Teams such as them make football such a great spectacle, entonces gracias to you guys (but not for the match against Brazil).

Well Brazil’s form before the game was even more of a laughing stock as the Atletico-Mineiro youth team beat the Brazil Reserves, (that Adriano and Elano for you guys). Wow Dunga really knows what he is doing don’t he. Well a culmination of all the shitty work he has been doing has now thrown his job into uncertainty. The squad picked for the Olympics has been ordered to call up Ronaldinho, CBF money grabber Ricardo Texiera, has made this clear to Dunga against his wishes. Now this automatically means Dunga has lost the faith of the board, plus the inclusion of Ronaldinho gives us fans another thing, what Ronaldinho is he taking? We all want to see the samba flow through Ronaldinho like 2/3 years ago and my god do I wanna see him love the game again, but are we going to be subject to a money making ploy here in order to pull the crowds in to watch Brazil, to watch a washed up superstar, hey I hope not. In the long run I hope Dunga is ushered out before the Olympics, or its going to be an embarrassment, but I think there is still a twist in the tail before the Olympics start. The knifes are sharpening and Dunga can feel them, the fans in Brazil have started Dunga’s demise, now its up to the CBF to restore our pride.

Match Highlights

Salvador Cabanas puts Brazil to rest during the 2010 World Cup Qualifier in Asuncion

Ok now on to how we lost. It’s painfully obvious the man at the helm is to blame for this joke, it was extremely desperate and extremely poor by Dunga. Watching the line-up before the match I felt as if I knew the script before it was to be played out. I don’t know what fucking coaching book Dunga was reading, but three DM’s???????? I think the Italians would find that a bit too cautions. The men set out to do these roles, Gliberto Silva, Miniero, Josue, bit part squad players for their clubs in Europe, were in theory meant to allow Diego to link the attack and defence. Diego who let’s be honest, still hasn’t recaptured his Werder Bremen form for the Seleção (not entirely his fault in my opinion, what do you expect when you have no talent behind you to distribute the ball around). Diego’s inability to get into the match left the forwards Robinho and Luis Fabiano isolated, without a scrap to feed off.
Dunga’s inept ability to field a team with any creativity got me, along with his ultra defensive tactics, but this highlighted the problem which has dogged Brazilian football since the 1990’s, our lack of width. We used to be the pioneers of wide attacking winger’s/forwards, but gradually since the expansive style of Brazilian football didn’t yield a trophy for 24 years, or Tele Santana’s 1982 and 86 team didn’t win the world cup playing beautiful football, slowly the model of the Brazlian formation has given rise to Miniero’s and Cesar Sampaio’s. Dunga started this trend of defensive Midfielders, he was our first extremely defensive midfielder, but what made him different was he was the last of the pure playmakers we had, don’t believe me go on YouTube and watch Brazil Denmark in WC 1998 or any game with him in, the guy was a king pin. But since him Brazil has decided to create powerful strong holding midfielders who don’t possess the ability to dictate the game (Gilberto Silva’s for example). By having such a strong and destructive base in the centre of midfield Brazil has used their wide players more centrally as a box making the full back provide the whole width of the pitch. The centre midfielders are now part time defenders, while the full backs have to provide the width, so the attacking midfielders then forage into the middle of the pitch to create the passes and opportunities for the forwards. This was desperately obvious at the World cup, mainly Cafu and Roberto Carlos inability of providing width, (more about this in my special about Brazil’s blooper at WC 06, which is coming soon) and again this was painfully obvious in the majority of matches played under Dunga. Paraguay easily realised that Brazil concentrates its attacks from the wings using its full-backs, making it obvious for the opposition to double up on the wings causing Brazil to play more centrally, which is easier for breaking up the play and congesting the passing lanes. Combine that with the shitty mid-field experiment Dunga had going on and any person with a football brain could see this match had all the ingredients for a disaster. Maicon and Gilberto proved especially why they are not world class players and I believe shouldn’t be starters, I can’t remember them providing any width until the second half, plus those two give the ball way a heck of a lot.

Along with Maicon and Gilberto’s ineffectiveness, the defensive line as a whole still were on holiday as they had been in the friendly matches. Paraguay did pressure us but the first goal for Santa Cruz was down to pathetic defending particularly for Juan and Lucio. Time and time again they were easily caught out of position or pulled out of position by any movement i.e. Santa Cruz hit the post. Cabanas, whom everyone in Brazil nicknamed fatty showed what I have always thought, he’s a decent player, and his strength caused our disoriented high on crack defensive problems over and over again. (and I though Dunga’s strength were getting the defensive right, phhhh)

Here’s the overall player rating I gathered from the match;

Julio Cesar – Caught dead on his line on the first goal, but this can be blamed on the defence. He looked quick and strong coming out from his goal but should’ve held on to the ball on the second goal, but overall not his fault more of the out fields fault for leaving him so exposed. Not a great game but not his major faults, still number 1 for Brazil without a doubt. = 4.5

Lucio – Along with twiddle dumb took a holiday and sent his twin brother to play, (maybe the same twins which hang out with Henry and Viera when they play for the French national team) not a performance I expect from one of our best defender and captain. He’s never been the most tactically disciplined players but still this was a joke by our captain. His calamity at the hands of Gilberto Silvs being indecisive and shit led to goal number 2 =3

Juan – His twin went to play because that wasn’t the player I have seen at AS Roma this year, poor display and his movements out of position lead to the counter attack goal and counter attack that was cleared of the line in the second half. Poor display. His fault Cabanas scored the second weak defending after the save by JC = 2.5

Maicon – Don’t remember him much at all during that match except for his clearance of the line, didn’t provide any quality with the ball and had a heavy touch. = 3

Gilberto – Got up and down the wing more than Maicon, but not the greatest distributer or the greatest player on the ball. = 3

Gilberto Silva- old strengths were good tactical awareness, very strong and simple decent distribution. Provided a shield in front of the defence that seemed impenetrable in his prime which made him a must feature in the mid-field. Nowadays a shadow of his former self, that doesn’t cover in time and looses the ball time and again. He’s past it and is no longer needed, p.s. Dunga don’t fucking use him like he’s Andrea Pirlo it won’t happen not even in his prime. = 1.5

Mineiro – Industrial, works his ass of, only problem is he sucks really badly. Can’t pass can’t move, can’t create. Needs to be dropped soon. = 1.5

Josue - not really a fan or a hater, still he may be a better version of Mineiro and does push up more. I would give him another try, he’s by no means a starter more a squad player, I think Ibson should be picked instead he’s a much better central midfielder. Against Paraguay he had no effect mainly because his instructions were to sit and defend and play of the counter. = 3.5

Diego – Another poor performance by a very talented player. I don’t know if it’s him or Dunga but to me the coach tactics do affect his play. I believe he needs good players around him to become better. As I am attacking type of person I would make him a central midfielder as he has terrific drive from the middle of the pitch and I can see he likes to play centrally. He can distribute from there and link attack and defence. Against Paraguay he stunk badly but he was isolated. I will blame Dunga’s tactics here (Kaka also has had shity games for Brazil before and now Robinho isnt playing well, hmm could be a trend). = 3

Robinho - Its painfully clear Dunga’s tactics isn’t it contain, contain then give the ball to Robinho. If he’s not on it then nothing happens. What sort of shit is this, reminds me of the fresh prince when they played basketball, all they did was give the ball to Will. Wow Dunga is creative isn’t he. During the match its self it was impossible to see how Robinho was gonna turn it on when people were pretty obvious to the tactics used of giving him the ball. He spent too much time disjointed from Fabiano going to the wings trying to create space, because as I have said Brazil’s lack of width hurts them and Robinho had to provide some causing the attack to be more disjointed and less effective. = 3.5

Luis Fabiano – Nothing given to him to feed of, no cohesion no team work no shit, was presented with a counter opportunity which he got fouled early on the a 50/50 goal attempt after a defensive apart from that not much. He worked hard with nothing. Feed him and he will score, provide nothing and what’s a striker to do? I like him but I can’t judge him on this performance. = 4

Subs

Anderson – Still nowhere near the finished article, and slightly European in the way he plays too, not how I remember him at Gremio. Olympics should do him good and bring out the Brazilian in him. During the match non effective for large chunks, though when Brazil turned to their natural 4-2-4 (4-2-2-2) he was given the central midfield berth and tried to force the issue sending 2 shots at the keeper (these were our only efforts). Still for me he shouldn’t be in the national team, as he doesn’t really feature greatly for Manchester United. Youth team is his place for now plus it does look like he can play well from central midfield. Not good enough for Brazil yet……… but a = 4 for this match.

Adriano – thrown in by Dunga as a last gasp way of getting goals. Too late by Dunga and stupid tactics in having two strikers stay well inside the area with no quality coming in (Gilberto put a cross in with some quality on the 3rd time of asking!!!) Adriano tried to get into the game but couldn’t, no one in yellow shirt could, he wasn’t given anything to feed on or nothing played into him. He wasn’t great but in my opinon not given enough of chance to get into the game. = -

Julio Baptsita – strong as usual but no end product. Only given limited time to impact the game so I won’t give him a rating. = -

We’ve learnt once again that Brazil and Dunga is a bad combination. Watching the match I was rooting for Paraguay, this made me a little sick but I just wanted them to put me out of my misery of this horrible dull football I have been watching from Brazil. What makes this victory even more humiliating, Paraguay were down to 10 men from near the beginning of the second half and yet Brazil still couldn’t get anywhere near the goal. Maybe if there was just the keeper in goal we still wouldn’t even get in the area. Our football demise is humiliating for the world to see such a super power drop to the ground (luckily the Euro’s are on), now it is clear we need to go back to our roots and find the beat of the samba again. Hopefully Argentina can blow us away and Dunga can finally be taken away from the Seleção. Miracles such as the Copa America only happen once in a career but playing ugly and winning doesn’t always work. He was the man who envisioned the new defensive looking Brazil of the 90’s and hopefully with him it ends.

Here are the game Highlights

The loss to Venezuela highlighted many of our fears, plus also highlighting our frailties in dominating the pitch. The loss against Venezuela be it a friendly or not shows the Brazilian team is in a bad place at this present moment. The team does not know its identity, the coach doesn’t know if the squad should play a Brazilian style, or European style (more European at times with dopey), but a real Brazilian would know that Brazil plays its own style and doesn’t mirror its self on another way of football. But the saddest thing of all is the players do not hold the same love and respect for the Yellow Jersey as the Brazilian fans. This is what precisely happened against Venezuela, we lost our identity and the players showed no heart. Dunga started with a 4-3-1-2, which changed into a 4-3-3 at times. The personnel changed to Doni, Daniel Alves, Luisao, Thiago Silva, Henrique; Gilberto Silva, Elano, Anderson; Robinho; Adriano, Pato. A tight Formation with no width plus combined with the fact there is no playmaker for Brazil, oh yeah and the players didn’t bring their heart and respect proved a disaster waiting to happen.

Venezuela a country which only recently has started to improve at football (used to be the South American whipping boys) showed our players up through love and admiration for their colours. Brazil never got going in this match, Venezuela played fast and ferocious of the break whilst Brazil pondered and created nothing like usual (need a play maker fucker). Add to that the fact that Brazil’s defence never looked as if they have trained together once (probably didn’t know each other’s name) and that Luisao is the slowest ass to get back or read an offside trap (again another European influence, have you ever seen Brazil play for offside). Daniel Alves again looked lacklustre and Henrique was out of his depth (ye against Venezuela, that’s means not a call up for a while in my book). With the midfield being so badly conducted by Gilberto useless Silva (was a terrific player) the whole midfield pack was a shambles and provided no protection to the back four Elano and Anderson (did try and push on and force the issue) looked a bit lost playing in a formation I reckon Dunga probably threw out minutes before the players left the dressing room. By having such a deep midfield Brazil were trying to work a moment of magic to win the game (pretty pathetic tactic), only problem was with no width and supply the forwards couldn’t get in the game. Adriano was particularly isolated up front and constantly had a barrage of red shirts covering him. I am not commending him on a good game far from it, he was poor in inserting himself into the match and being the emperor we all knew (Had one of those overweight Inter style performances), it’s just this was entirely his own fault rather more of the teams overplay. He did hustle for possession and get dirty in the box putting a back heel wide, but I don’t think he is fully back to where he was three years ago, (about 60% emperor and 40% of what we have seen last year at inter). Venezuela let Robinho tinker around the penalty and knew that he was playing to deep to influence the match against a very well and drilled defensive blockade, (9 in the box at all times defence). Pato seemed dynamic and his young spirit tried to pull him through the game but no supply and poor overall team game hindered he involvement (did seem more dynamic then Adriano) There was though a hint of good play but from Adriano playing a threw pass to Diego who should’ve scored, but then trying a bicycle kick which hit the post. It should also be noted when Brazil switched up to 4-2-2-2 they looked much better.

This loss should single to Dunga that his tendency to put caution above attack has affected the players approach to playing for Brazil (already sucked remember WC 2006?) The players don’t understand what to do on the pitch which shows poor management and passing of commands to individuals. Dunga did though have a lot to say after the match, you can make your own judgements on his views;

“A positioning mistake caused the first goal and another one caused the second goal. In the second half, Brazil played very well, and Venezuela did not have many chances.”
“Ideally, you want to maintain the same team, but we have to try new players, and these players are just returning from vacation. I saw a lot of good things. We have good players but it’s always good to have a chance to see other players.”

“Every loss hurts, you always want to win, but there is not that big a gap between Brazil and Venezuela as there was 30 years ago. In 1993, Venezuela had some amateurs playing for the team, but now they have good players and they can control the rhythm of the game. They played well in Copa America last year and have been playing well in qualifiers.”

In actual fact all Dunga is really telling me is he can’t accept a loss against a minnow. Don’t blame the players fully (they are to blame) blame your tactics and your lack of experience, and if Brazil did play better in the second half they should’ve comfortably won and made millions of chances, no cutting edge no goal, no playmaker no rhythm, no soul no love, these were the problems with this match and this team.

Against Canada we played badly against a better outfit we were pounded (imagine if this was a super power). The beginning of the decline of football could slowly be upon us and this can only be a good thing. Brazil has to look inside its soul and look at its identity, you know like a cross dresser, they dress up like a woman but deep down they know there a man. Only till they realise this then they can be back to their old self. Maybe with a demise we may see the emergence of artists who run the midfield and return to the essence of the beautiful game. The soul of Ginga, Brazilian football only seems to run through the veins of Robinho, Maybe for the rest this team the national team is only a fashion show, but we shall see.

The start of the match began in true carrinha fashion with Brazil taking the lead within four minutes with a little razzle dazzle skill from Robinho, then finding Diego for a nice finish. Everyone thing was going to script and Brazil were showing their dominance, only problems was they forgot there was another team on the pitch and down the other end Canada managed to equalize within a few minutes with Julio César trying his best Michael Jordan performance, maybe not entirely his fault the defence did leave him hanging and stop dead in their tracks but still he is Inter’s number 1 it shouldn’t be happening, 1 all, and Brazil stuttering began. After that point Canada took the game by the scruff of the neck by missing many one on one chances in which any other side would’ve put Brazil 3-1 down. Evidently Brazil were playing a high defensive line as the central midfielders weren’t doing their job defensively (Like they do anything offensively), Canada were easily slicing through the Brazilian defence like cheese. Luis Fabiano then restored the Brazilian lead somewhat against the run of play by scrambling a powerful header across the line, an underserved 2-1 lead going into half time. The second half pretty much carried on in the same fashion with Canada pressing forward and De Guzman scoring a beautiful goal from the edge of the box. Complacency again cost Brazil here as the midfield didn’t know who should go to De Guzman, and the defence which had been ‘having a great day all game’ was obviously going to fluff their lines again. De Guzman a few minutes later tried another shot, this time just brushing wide. Brazil then managed to conjure something together and Fabiano’s nice finish was rightly spotted as offside. Julio César who had made up a little for his earlier mistake still decided to show the cameras that he can fly like Mike and nearly let in another equaliser, Canada looked as if they could cause an upset. That was until De Guzman decided to have a hero become villain moment and place an amazing threw ball to the only Brazilian on the pitch, Robinho easily accelerated past the Canadian keeper to give Brazil another undeserved lead. Canada now feeling hard done by kept coming and had to two chances to further claw themselves back level with Brazil, but to no avail, the yellow jerseys managed to hold on for an underserved win. Adriano did make a brief appearance at the end and all new reports written state he played well and worked hard which is a plus. His threw ball at the end of the match and long distance shot at least show a love for the jersey.

Bright images of the day: At least Brazil always consistently manages to bring a colourfull audience

A little to close to call for the Seleção, hopefully this was just a summer-time blip for Robinho and Co’

To conclude this joke of a performance Brazil yet again was bailed out by the magic of Robinho, the rest of the squad looked rusty less cohesive than usual, plus Dunga’s weird high defensive line was never going to work when all the teams’ width is created by the full backs. The midfield was exposed for all its frailties and lack of creativeness. Imagine if this was an actual decent side, we would’ve really been in the shit! Period. This was a good wake-up call we needed to change the way we play, because the quality in midfield is severely lacking, a play maker is desperately needed if Brazil ever want to reach the heights of the beautiful game again. The match was a friendly, but still against Canada this should’ve been a training match with the squad of players taken, these are the guys who are meant to be taking on Argentina and Paraguay in the up and coming World cup qualifiers. Hopefully by then the players should have familiarised themselves with the yellow jersey again. They have one last chance left to re-produce some cohession and experiment before the big qualifiers against rising minnows Venezuela.

Heres a good highlight reel of the Shambles at Qwest field

So the squad announced is:

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma), Diego Alves (Almeria)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Maicon (Inter Milan), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Kleber (Santos), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Alex Costa (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Luisao (Benfica)

Midfielders: Elano (Manchester City), Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Mineiro (Hertha Berlin), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Anderson(Manchester United), Diego (Werder Bremen), Kaka (AC Milan)

Forwards: Adriano (Sao Paulo), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Julio Baptista (Real Madrid), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Rafael Sobis (Real Betis), Robinho (Real Madrid)

First things first I need to say welcome back Adriano, it’s been a rocky road but we’ve missed you. Hopefully this is the start of his resurgence and hopefully not what we’ve had to endure for 2 years. Anything close to his best and I think all Brazil fans will be partying like its 1999 or just plain be getting all frisky and start having orgasms (maybe that’s just me). All in all a good strong Adriano can strike fear into any opponent, and if he is anything like the 2005 Confederation Cup Final, all Argies should take cover.

A Brazil team without Vagner love is always a good team, and I think that Dunga defiantly has given up his weird and wacky scientific experiment of trying to use a mutant piece of shit like Vagner Love in making a world class strike force. The forward line-up looks strong and world class, with many weapons to choose from, such as Luis goal-machine Fabiano and the young Pato who would want to make an impression for the Seleção in his first World Cup Qualifier. Rafael Sobis has probably been selected for experience in the friendly matches for the up and coming Olympics as he won’t be playing the qualifying matches. In the future though I would like to see Fred given another chance, at least when he gets more first team football sorted out because he was also a very promising prospect which Dunga shouldn’t forget about.

Robinho for Brazil plays more of his natural position as a forward (like his old Santos days). Giving him more license to roam, to get forward in to the positions he craves on giving Brazil diverse attacking options.

The midfield on the other hand worries me especially with the amount of Defensive Midfielders in which Dunga likes to use. Gilberto Silva has gone of the way side a bit this past season, something Arsene Wenger seems to have realised at Arsenal, whilst players such as Mineiro or even Josué have heart and stamina, but I don’t think there what you call vintage Brazil players, a la Gerson, didi, falcao etc. The lack of creation in the bottom half of midfield is mainly the reason for the Breakup of play Brazil does suffer via crap passing and lack of support, this being the reason defence and attack seem so far apart. Manchester United’s Anderson( should be going to the Olympics) should definitely be tried out in Centre of midfield, where he has been having a good strong season for united playing there. That engine style player is what Brazil is in need of and is missing from the Middle of the park. Heck, I think Elano or Diego are the answer to play as the playmaker, both also can hustle and bustle around the midfield and play make for the forwards. Hopefully in the future we could see Dunga using creative central midfielders such as Hernanes of Sao Paulo (who should also be travelling to the Olympics) and maybe the emergence of Liverpools Lucas (Also going to the Olympics). Ronaldinho’s omission is pretty obvious in relation to his injury and fall from grace, so the attacking Midfield slots which will be occupied by Diego/ Elano/ Baptista alongside Kaka are pretty self explanatory. Kaka though looks to be a major doubt as he has had to undergo knee surgery so I don’t think he will be playing which is a major blow for the matches with Paraguay and Argentina. I would have though liked to see either Thiago Neves of Fluminense picked or Wagner picked from Cruzeiro instead of Baptista, who hasn’t wowed me since his Seville days, and who has been sort of here and there with Madrid this season.

Defensively I think Dunga has got it right most times (at least he never picked Roque Junior), and he knows who works well at the back, which is credit to him. Even though I am not the biggest fan of Maicon, he has earned his call-ups (hopefully this doesn’t last), and less than adequate performances by Daniel Alves has seen him start there often. The left back slot is still up for grabs as Roberto Carlos’s void still hasn’t been filled. Gilberto is not that adequate to hold the position for long and I think once Marcelo grows into his potential the Left Back slot is pretty much going to be his. For the time being Kleber should be given a shot down the left. Hopefully Dunga hasn’t forgotten about Cicinho who has been quite solid for Roma, if not that vintage. He is the closest thing to Cafu and his performances for Brazil have always been brilliant (confederations cup) and now I think for Roma he is getting back to sort of old self. If Daneil Alves can show some of his Seville performances for the National team then that’s another matter, maybe even incorporate him at Left-back would be a good option, but time will tell.

Hopefully dunga uses a 4-4-2 (4-2-2-2) instead of that awful 4-2-3-1 which I have come to notice during a few games. When Brazil play that system its pretty safe to say ‘shit ain’t gonna happen’ and Brazil are looking to play of the counter attack. The squad looks better than previously, mainly because up front finally looks Brazilian. The omission of an out of form Ronaldinho shouldn’t affect anything as his recent performances for the Seleção haven’t really set the house on fire so to speak. It should though be interesting to see if Alex Pato lights up proceedings in his first official matches for the senior national team. It will be intriguing also to see Adriano back for Brazil especially in the all important match against Argentina.

To end this post I think it only right to pay homage to the emperor who has worked back to getting himself back in the international fold. These ones for you Adri for all the good times and hopefully now more moments of beauty, enjoy.

I know you folks at home are gonna enjoy what will be posted so be free to post your views and opinons of the blog. I want this blog to capture the spirit of Brazilian football along with the sometimes crazy lifestyles of our star players. (Maybe not Ronaldo after the last Cross-dresser incident)

So from now until South Africa 2010 I guarantee we should be seeing a lot of this:

A DAMN LOT OF THIS!

A little of this:

More of this:

And by the end of South Africa 2010 we should be seeing this:

So let me leave you with a little taste of what should be coming to the Brazil World Cup Blog in the up and coming year, enjoy.

Brazil Football - Watch a funny movie here

If you follow the Seleção, and have plenty to say about it, then we want to hear from you.

It’s not a paid position, but it is a chance to write for a big audience and a great way to follow the team. And if you need extra motivation, just look at our vibrant Argentina blog. The Brazil blog has a lot of catching up to do.

Anyone interested please read the blogger guidelines here and send an email to daryl[at]theoffside.com with a sample blog post or a link to some relevant writing.

And here’s some Seleção news to get you started. Dunga has named his squad to face Paraguay and Argentina next month. No room for Ronaldinho (no surprise there) but Adriano gets a recall:

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma), Diego Alves (Almeria)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Maicon (Inter Milan), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Kleber (Santos), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Alex Costa (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Luisao (Benfica)

Midfielders: Elano (Manchester City), Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Mineiro (Hertha Berlin), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Anderson(Manchester United), Diego (Werder Bremen), Kaka (AC Milan)

Forwards: Adriano (Sao Paulo), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Julio Baptista (Real Madrid), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Rafael Sobis (Real Betis), Robinho (Real Madrid)

There are other big names in the list, but even so Jorvan Vieira, a completely unknown (at least here) Brazilian coach, is in third place. Of course after reading about Jorvan I could understand why he can be considered a great coach, after all he won the Asian Cup with Iraq, a country ravaged by war. In 2007, under Jorvan’s command, the Iraq’s National Team won not only the AFC Asian Cup, but was also chosen as the AFC team of the year, Al-Ahram’s Arab team of the year, World Soccer Magazine’s World team of the year and nominated for the Prince of Asturias Award.

At the other hand, Dunga’s job behind a team like Brazil isn’t that hard so, to see him at the top of the ladder was kind of funny.

Now there are some funny people here are saying that for a Brazilian to get that honor his name must start with the letter R. Here is the list: Romário (1994), Ronaldo (1996, 1997 and 2002), Rivaldo (1999), Ronaldinho (2004 e 2005) and now Kaká (his real name is Ricardo), making a total of 8 Brazilian titles in 14 editions of the contest.

At the same event, Brazilians Marta (Woman’s again) and Buru (Beach Soccer) were also awarded, keeping Brazil as a solid talent factory as usual. I just hope we translate that fact into another World Cup title soon.

Here are some links to news:
• Fifa about the ceremony
• CNN’s “Virtual sweep of annual awards”
• BBC’s “Superb year”
• Marca’s (Spain) “Votado por los entrenadores y capitanes de las selecciones nacionales”
• Corriere della Sera’s “2007 impreziosito”
• Terra’s “Artilheiro e melhor jogador da Copa dos Campeões”
• Fifa’s interview

Below a little list of Kaká’s accomplishments in 2007:
• FIFPro World XI: 2006, 2007
• UEFA Champions League Top Scorer: 2006-2007
• UEFA Champions League Best Forward: 2006-2007
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2007
• FIFPro World Player of the Year: 2007
• Ballon d’Or: 2007
• FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2007
• Toyota Award: 2007
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 2007

I felt sorry for the Canadian reporter Erika Bulman when Blatt got all irritated because of her question about violence. Everybody knows that the world have this impression of our big cities. Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have issues like any other city with more than 6 million inhabitants. At the other hand, when she states that “…there have been delays in hosting some major events, problems with violence in the streets and the public transportation system in the country is often overloaded” it gets clear that she knows very little about our country.

We are very capable of hosting huge events. I don’t really remember any big event that have been delayed. The Rolling Stones show that brought nearly 2 million fans to the sands of Copacabana was great. The Red Bull Air Race was another event that gathered a crowd of more than 1 million people together. Of course there was a traffic gridlock near the area, but other than that, great success. Nobody burned any sound towers, like some people do in rock concerts far north from here. Also the Formula 1 race that takes place every year in São Paulo and always happen without incidents.

Our national football championship is a big event too. Near my place here in Rio we have the Maracanã “temple” that hosted matches with more than 60.000 people in the last few weeks. I went to watch the Brazil x Ecuador match along with other 73 thousand people. There were many woman and children there, enjoying that huge celebration of our sport. I wish Erika Bulman could have been there to witness such a grand display of our easygoing lifestyle and partying spirit.

Hey Erika, you are more than welcome to come visit Rio. We’ll have a nice caipirinha and I’ll tell you the episode of my brother being mugged in Rome’s subway. It is rather funny.

Interesting links:

Red Bull Air Race

Rolling Stones in Rio

Erika Bulman about 2014

Traveller’s Tale about Rio

Rock in Rio (no riots here)